“I’m very lucky that I’ve got to a good stage with my football and I do earn good money — but I might not have a job in three years. What am I going to do if I can’t get a club? I’m skilled for nothing. You see stories of lads who end up with nothing and lose everything.

“Or they turn to something they shouldn’t when they finish.

“The biggest thing is making sure my family are all secure and happy so that when I finish football I can say, ‘That was amazing’.”

Elliot is addressing his thoughts and fears with team-mates Karl Darlow and Isaac Hayden.

To support Movember, the Toon trio were asked to answer a range of questions openly and honestly, including: “At what moment in your life did you feel the most sad?”

This year, the month-long charity campaign — where men grow moustaches — is targeting mental health, as well as prostate and testicular cancer.

One in eight men in the UK have experienced a mental health problem and men account for three out of four suicides in this country.